Washington Football Team: Ranking WFT’s position groups after roster deadline madness

First, let’s be clear. The Washington Football Team roster will continue to evolve before and during the season. Despite announcing their “final” 53-man roster, injury, free agent availability, and subpar play will necessitate constant tinkering. So the following ranking of position groups is bound to be a snapshot of where the roster stands in the immediate aftermath of the cutdown to 53. It will change over time.

But for now, from best to worst, here is where the nine broad positions groups stand:

1.      Defensive Line

Sometimes, when you do these types of lists, you like to count down to the best. But when there is no suspense in what finishes at number 1, why not just get it out of the way? Sweat, Allen, Payne, and Young are as good a starting front four as there is in the league. Ioannidis and Settle provide sturdy backup in the middle.

The only real concern is whether youngsters James Smith-Williams, Casey Toohill, and Shaka Toney can step and provide support as edge players, especially if Sweat or Young have to miss time. I think that may be the reason the Washington Football Team chose to keep all three of them on the final 53. Odds are pretty strong that at least one of them will indeed step up. Perhaps more than one. If they all fail, that is a cause for concern – but not enough to knock this group out of the number one spot. The Washington Football Team defensive line is the equivalent of Stairway To Heaven in a classic rock countdown. You know before you begin that they are number one.

2.      Defensive Secondary 

No group has improved more than the corners and safeties. Last year, they were solid, and despite a couple injuries to the safeties, they stayed relatively healthy. This year, they are better and they are deeper. The backfield has essentially swapped a solid starter in Ronald Darby and a decent depth corner in Fabien Moreau for William Jackson III, Bobby McCain, Benjamin St-Juste, Torry McTyer, and Darryl Roberts. There is experience. There is depth. There is great flexibility.

Players like Danny Johnson and Jeremy Reaves – who were solid citizens over the past several seasons, have been replaced by more physically gifted athletes – many of whom can play multiple positions. It was surprising to see Jimmy Moreland go, but in a defensive scheme that uses split safeties, he was essentially restricted to playing the slot, and slot corner is the easiest backfield position to fill. Playing behind this defensive line, the secondary should thrive.

3.      Offensive Line 

This was the easiest roster projection to make. The only mild intrigue was whether Keith Ismael, or even recent free agent Jon Toth, could knock Tyler Larsen out of the backup center role. Neither could. The Washington Football Team has a solid, starting group in Charles Leno, Wes Schweitzer, Chase Roullier, Brandon Scherff, and Sam Cosmi. The interior – where Ereck Flowers could possibly supplant Schweitzer – is strong, but can move. The tackles are far more athletic than last year’s group.

Behind them, Larsen is a veteran backup center and Cornelius Lucas is as good a swing tackle as you will find because he does the one thing a backup tackle has to be able to do. He will keep his QB clean. Flowers and Saahdiq Charles are both college tackles who have moved inside to guard. I have high hopes for Charles moving forward. This is not an overpowering line, but it should be able to do exactly what OC Scott Turner wants them to do.